Sorry to hit you with back-to-back posts about bands, but I can’t help it, I’m just a music nerd.
I mentioned Superchunk’s new album What A Time To Be Alive about a month ago. NPR First Listen is streaming it now. 32 minutes of powerful, poppy punk. Righteous anger… with catchy hooks. Check it out.
It’s a real beauty. Brandi’s voice is like no other, and the new release is helmed by Nashville superproducer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and pretty much any other “twangy” artist who doesn’t cater to the bro-country masses).
A live in-studio performance of the lead track is below (twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth add so much – they are her not-so-secret weapons). The rest of the album is just as stellar.
OK, I’ll put my headphones back on and quit prattling about music now.
Premier Guitar article author Rich Osweiler puts it nicely when describing the new release:
….dynamic power-trio rock that drips with hooks, blends beauty with aggression and crunch, and adds more tunes to the band’s catalog that have an uncanny way of turning on the emotion faucet.
Two-thirds of Buffalo Tom also sat in with DJ Jonathan Clarke on New York’s Q104.3 for a nice interview, and did a cover that also appears on their new album. Simon & Garfunkel, meet Janovitz and Colbourn:
And one-third of Buffalo Tom (lead singer/guitarist Bill Janovitz) also did an interview and acoustic in-studio set with Nic Harcourt on 88.5 FM, a station in Southern California. That set is here.
Yes, I’m obsessed. I don’t care. Their music makes me happy. Pre-order the new album and get on board the Buffalo Tom bandwagon.
My named is dubbatrubba, and I’m addicted to the Instant Pot.
It’s a combination slow cooker/pressure cooker/rice maker/steamer/yogurt maker… I think it might even play karaoke tunes – I’ll have to check the manual.
I couldn’t help myself – all the cool kids were doing it, and I succumbed to the peer pressure. Oh, and there’s also the fact that a lot of recipes that used to take hours now take mere minutes. Hence the “Instant” part of the name.
A co-worker was the one who introduced me to it. She kept bringing in her lunches and raving about how good they tasted, and how easy they were to make. Her recipe for lentil chili is killer, dude! Of course, she’s a darn good cook even without the Instant Pot.
Now I can’t go a day without using it. As a veg-head, it comes in very handy. I make a big ol’ batch of black beans every week. I used to have to make them on weekends, because they take 10 hours in the crock pot. Now it takes less than an hour. I’ve also whipped up red beans with veggie sausage, the aforementioned lentil chili, curried lentils, mashed potatoes and a batch of veggie chili. It comes in handy when cooking for my 16-year-old son (the fitness freak) too. He eats chicken for lunch and salmon for dinner every doggone day, and it used to be a laborious process of thawing and baking. Now we can go from frozen to finished in less than an hour. We also use it for brown rice and hard-boiled eggs. And I’ve merely scratched the (cooking) surface of what it can do. Seriously!
I think you might even be able to make brownies, but searching for Instant Pot Brownies might get me busted in Ohio.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m jonesing. I need to go make another meal. Be back in an Instant!
In this case, P.B.S. doesn’t stand for Public Broadcasting System. Sorry Elmo.
Elmo sad. Elmo need hug.
P.B.S. = Pearls Before Swine, a great comic strip. This past Sunday, PBS creator Stephan Pastis went a bit deeper than he usually does, and I loved it.
That’s a pretty profound pig!
Don’t worry, the very next day Stephan — and his character Pig — did a 180:
Now that’s just plain funny. Check out a week’s worth of strips at this link — Pig is just one of the many animal characters in the strip. I think you’ll find yourself laughing more… and maybe you’ll get some food for thought too.
If you’re like me (and heaven help you if you are… seek professional help immediately), you probably spend a fair amount of your workday staring at a computer screen.
This posture is recommended by optometrists and chiropractors… the ones that need business.
And if you’re like most people, you probably still have some sort of default background on your screen all day.
Bill Gates isn’t known for his artistry.
Why not add a smile or three to all that screen-staring, by personalizing your desktop background. I have double monitors (it looks like “multi-tasking” but really it’s just ADHD) and this morning when I logged on, here’s what I saw:
Screen #1: Replacements, circa 1986
Screen #2: Inspiration from Hugh MacLeod
I have an entire album of desktop background photos, ranging from the profound:
… to the ridiculous:
There are 66 photos in the folder now, and the photos rotate every 30 minutes, so every day is a new grab bag of visuals. Bands and artists I love:
A picture of my childhood home:
Deep thoughts (most courtesy of the brilliant Hugh MacLeod):
Nostalgia:
Sports shots:
Goofy photos of my co-workers:
Goofy shots of me with co-workers too:
Screen shot from a buddy cop spoof video we did for a company meeting. I’m “Cheese” but you probably could’ve guessed that.
Thomas Kuhl on We’re alive, because nothing happened.: “That is why we should celebrate every day when our feet hit the floor. Another to enjoy and share with…” Jun 25, 04:33
Thomas Kuhl on We’re alive, because nothing happened.: “This simply explains why we should celebrate every day our feet hit the floor. Another day to enjoy and share…” Jun 25, 04:31
Po on Here, There, and Everywhere: “I’m with you on all of that Damian. I’m exceedingly happy when I’m actually – with YOU – at such…” May 31, 13:52
blueandgolddreamer on Monday Fun-day: “I was just thinking about this song today. Every day I get closer to fine even if the journey is…” May 20, 03:30
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